RobotCub Open Call
This is the Wiki of the RobotCub Open Call. We share here experiences, tips & tricks about the robots and the results of the research, events, etc.
Open Call background
Original Open Call text
The iCub is a 53 degree-of-freedom cognitive humanoid robot which has been developed as an open-systems research platform. This call invites proposals for projects which focus on using the iCub for embodied artificial cognitive systems research. The iCub is the result of a collaborative project funded by the European Commission, Project IST-004370 RobotCub, under Strategic Objective 2.3.2.4: Cognitive Systems. At 104 cm tall, the iCub is approximately the size of a three year-old child. It will be able to crawl on all fours and sit up, its hands will allow dexterous manipulation, and its head and eyes are fully articulated. It has visual, vestibular, auditory, and haptic sensory capabilities. As an open system, the design and documentation of all hardware and software is licensed under the Free Software Foundation GNU licences so that the system can be freely replicated and customized. An iCub kit will be awarded each of the applicants who submit the eight best proposals. In addition, each successful applicant will be awarded travel & accommodation costs at the Italian Institute of Technology in Genoa for one person for a two-month period to participate in the supervised assembly of the robot. Shipping costs of the assembled iCub to the applicant’s host institute will also be covered.
- Date of publication of call: 1st September 2007.
- Deadline for receipt of proposals: 1st December 2007.
Open Call text: opencall.pdf
The standard report template
Participants received feedback from the evaluation procedure in the form of a report explaining the procedure and methods.
Template evaluation summary report: opencallreport.pdf
Open Call winners
The Open Call invited proposals for projects which focus on using the humanoid robot iCub for embodied artificial cognitive systems research. An iCub kit was awarded to each of the applicants who submitted the six best proposals. Here is the list of the winners.
| Institution | Project title | Investigators |
| Dept. of Computing/Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Imperial College, London | Embodied cognition using internal simulation and a global workspace | Murray Shanahan, Yiannis Demiris |
| Institute for Intelligent Systems and Robotics. Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris | Motor, Affective and Cognitive Scaffolding for iCub (MACSi) | Philippe Bidaud,
Olivier Sigaud, Vincent Padois |
| Human and Robot Cognitive Systems Group, INSERM U 846 Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute, Lyon | Development of Shared InTentions and Cooperation in a Humanoid Robot via Situated SIMulation Models (SitSim) | Peter Ford Dominey |
| KOVAN Research Lab., Dept. of Computer Engineering, Middle East Technical University (METU) | Emergence of Communication in iCub through Sensorimotor and Social Interaction | Erol Sahin |
| Image Understanding and Knowledge Based Systems, Technische Universit?at M?unchen, Munich | iCubKidManS: iCub development of Kids' Manipulation Skills | Michael Beetz,
Alexis Maldonado, Federico Ruiz |
| Institute of Audiovisual Studies, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona | DAC-iCub: An integrated anthropomorphic neuromorphic cognitive architecture for the iCub | Paul Verschure |
| The Beckmann Institute, University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign | The Role of Sensorimotor Function, Associative Memory and Reinforcement Learning in Automatic Acquisition of Spoken Language by an Autonomous Robot | Steve Levinson |
More robots
Additional iCub are or will be available at:
- Italian Institute of Technology, Genoa, Italy
- EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
- University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK
- IST, Lisbon, Portugal
- University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK
- CNR, Rome, Italy
- University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany
The RobotCub Summer Schools
- Veni Vidi Vici RobotCub Summer School 2009, and the official website
- Veni Vidi Vici RobotCub Summer School 2008, and the official website
- Veni Vidi Vici RobotCub Summer School 2007, and the official website
- Veni Vidi Vici RobotCub Summer School 2006, and the official website